Brotherly Love
by ivy45663
Summary: Pony realizes that he has feelings for Darry that he shouldn’t have. Will he act on them or bury them deep inside him? Will the Curtis family be ripped apart or closer together? Let’s go with on a journey of selfdiscovery and love.


_**Brotherly Love**_

Darry-20 years old

Sodapop- 18 years old

Ponyboy- 16 years old

Steve- 18 years old

Two-Bit- 20 years old

Pony realizes that he has feelings for Darry that he shouldn't have. Will he act on them or bury them deep inside him? Will the Curtis family be ripped apart or closer together? Let's go with on a journey of self-discovery and love.

Chapter one

Soda sat on the bench watching his little brother run. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar man lean against the fence never taking his gaze from Pony. When the race was over and Pony was declared the winner, Darry silently left the field heading home. Pony ran up to Soda.

"Did you see me win?" he asked excitedly.

"I sure did, you were great Pony," he grinned.

"I wish Darry could have come," Pony said.

"I know, are you ready to go?" Soda asked.  
"Some of the guys are going out for pizza, can I go?" Pony wanted to know.

"Yes, but be home by 11:00," Soda told him before going home. He was going to have a long talk with Darry. His brother had been acting very weird for the last few weeks. Not a day went by when Darry and Pony didn't get into a big argument.

Darry Curtis lay on his bed staring at the wall. He was thinking about his life and how everything had changed. Two years ago he'd given up his chance to go to college to be a guardian to his two kid brothers when their parents died and though they'd gone through some hard times, like losing two good friends soon after; he never regretted it once. Ponyboy, his youngest brother still didn't believe that he loved him. Darry had to laugh; everything he did was for Pony and Soda. He sighed thinking about his girlfriend, well his ex-girlfriend now since they'd broken up that day. Cassie was a great girl, but she wanted him to let Soda take care of Pony, after a lot of soul searching Darry chose to let her go instead of his family.

"Darry, are you okay?" Soda asked from the doorway.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he responded.

"I saw you at the track meet, why didn't you let Pony see you?" he walked into the room.

Darry shrugged, but didn't answer.

"He would have wanted to know," Soda said.

"I broke up with Cassie today," he said quietly.

"Why?" Soda asked because he didn't understand.

"I don't know, it just wasn't there for me," Darry snapped sitting up.

"Is there someone else?" Soda questioned. Darry felt his chest tighten as he jerked his startled eyes from Sodapop's.

"You can tell me Dare," Soda told him, sitting by him.

"Sodapop, you don't understand. It's not what you think," Darry told him tiredly.

"Explain it to me then. I thought you and Cassie were doing all right. What's going on with you?" the younger boy fired questions at him.

"Soda, Cassie wanted me to leave you and Pony alone to be with her. I couldn't do that so it's over," Soda's chocolate brown eyes filled with compassion.

"I'm sorry Darry," he said.

Darry nodded dejectedly and in his mind he saw a boy with auburn hair and green eyes, crying as they buried the people they loved.

"Soda, we can't tell Ponyboy. I didn't want you to know either," he mumbled.

Soda glared at him. "Why the hell not!" he demanded loudly. "Do you blame us? Is that why you've been acting so funny around Ponyboy?" Soda asked thinking about his little brother and Johnny and knowing that Pony couldn't lose another person close to him. It would crush him.

"I want to be close to him, but he won't let me," Darry said forlornly.

Soda sat dumbfounded, but once he thought about it, it all made sense to him. Darry was terrified that Pony wouldn't love him and Pony was terrified of the same thing.

"What are you going to do?" he asked knowing the pain his brother was in.

"Nothing, I can't risk losing pony because he thinks this is all his fault. It's not, it's not your fault either," Darry replied.

"You need to talk to him because if you keep fighting like you have been, our family will still be ripped apart," Soda told him his voice low and soft. "You need to tell Pony that you've been watching his track meets and that you are proud of him," Soda said gravely.

"I will, I swear," Darry promised. "Where is Ponyboy anyway?" he asked noticing how quiet the house was.

"The team went out for pizza to celebrate. He wanted to go so I let him," Soda explained.

Pony had actually skipped the pizza party and was sitting on the hard ground talking to his dead, best friend. It had started to rain, but he didn't care.

"Johnny, I'm so confused. I loved you, but you left me alone. I need you here, why did you leave me? I need someone to love me, I feel so alone. Johnnycakes, I miss you so much, you promised that you would always be here for me," Pony sobbed not noticing it was raining harder until a jacket was placed over his shaking shoulders. Looking up, the heart-broken teen saw Two-Bit staring at him.

"Come on Pony, let's get you home. You're soaked," he said pulling Pony to his feet.

"How…how much did you hear?" he asked worriedly.

"Enough, but don't worry your secret is safe with me," he promised leading the other boy to his car. Pony shivered against the door on the quiet drive home. Opening the door, Pony shuffled into the house followed by Two-Bit. Soda and Darry looked up.

"Hey guys, Pony, did you have a good time?" Soda asked before noticing that he was soaked.

"Pony, you're soaking wet. Go change before you get sick," Darry said looking at Two-Bit. Pony left the room as Two-bit joined Soda on the couch.

"I found him talking to Johnny. He was really tore up and saying crazy things," he informed them all grim for once.

"Like what?" Soda wanted to know.

The greaser looked toward the hall. "Pony was saying that he loved Johnny and needed someone to love him and he didn't understand why Johnny left him," he finished.

"Oh man," Darry whispered.  
"I didn't know the kids were gay," Two-Bit said opening a beer.

Him and Johnny were together for about 6 months before he lost him," Soda said seeing Darry's eyes widen in shock.

"Darry, you should talk to the kid. He's confused and I think he needs a hug or something," Two-Bit said standing up. "Well I'm off," he left slamming the door behind him.

"Darry, let me talk to him tonight," Soda said hoping to avoid a fight.

"Soda," Darry started then exhaled noisily. Fine, go ahead," he went to his room.

Sodapop opened the door to the quiet, dark bedroom he shared with his youngest brother.

"Hey Pone, how did you end up at the cemetery in the rain?" Soda asked sitting on the bed.

"I changed my mind, I wanted to be alone," he said drying his hair.

"Why didn't you come home?" Soda continued to question him.

"I…I needed to visit Johnny. Soda, I needed someone to talk to," he said seeing something flash in Soda's eyes.

"I'm always here if you need to talk, you know that Ponyboy," Soda tried not to snap at him.

"I can't talk to you about this," Pony hedged hoping he would let it go.

"Why not? We used to be able to talk about anything," Sodapop reminded him.

"Not this," he snapped at his beloved brother.

"Come here baby," Soda opened his arms as the dam burst and tears fell like a waterfall. Pony mumbled something that Soda couldn't understand.

"What did you say Ponyboy?" he asked.

"I want Darry to love me again," the younger boy repeated more clearly.

"Darry does love you, more than you know," Soda soothed the teenager in his arms. "Close your eyes and go to sleep now," they lay down and were soon sleeping. When Darry checked on them later, he felt a pang of jealously at the sight of Pony wrapped in Soda's arms wishing him and Pony were closer. Sighing he went back to his lonely room.

After falling into an uneasy sleep, Darry jerked awake as petrified screams ripped through the night. Jumping up, he ran down the darkened hall to the boy's room. He was vaguely aware of Steve sitting up on the couch.

"Pony, calm down; it was just a dream," Soda murmured to the frightened teen. Seeing Darry hovering by the bed, he got an idea.

"Darry, take Pony and talk to him," he said softly. Darry leaped at a chance to be the comforter for once and picked Pony up like he was 5 instead of 16. Pony shuddered and buried his face in Darry's shoulder.

"Soda, Steve is on the couch and Pony woke him up," Darry told his middle brother knowing that the greaser would be pissed and likely to make the situation much worse than it was. Soda nodded and followed them out of the room.

"Stevie, let's go sleep in the bedroom," Soda said as Darry sat in the chair and gently rocked Ponyboy. Slowly his cried stopped and the boy became aware of who was holding him. When he tried to get up, Darry tightened his grip slightly.

"No, Pony, let me hold you tonight. Just relax and go back to sleep. I'll keep you safe," he talked softly, reassuring him. When he felt Pony's hand reach up to play with his hair, Darry smiled. Pony used to do that when he was little and sleepy. They sat there for a long time while Darry rubbed his back; Pony's face was pressed against his bare, hard chest. Soon he felt Pony's fingers skimming over his skin.

"Pony, what you are doing baby?" he asked.

"I'm sorry…I…I," Pony didn't know how to answer him.

"It's all right; let's try to get some rest. Do you want to go back with Soda?" he asked not really wanting to let him go. Pony shook his head no.

"Let's go lay down in my room then," Darry stood up with Pony still in his arms and marched to his room and shut the door behind them. When he lay down, pony curled up in his embrace.  
"I love you Darry," he mumbled sleepily.

"I love you to baby," they went to sleep listening to each other's quiet breathing.

_**This story is dedicated to my good friend PM Curtis. I hope everyone will read and review it. Flames will be used to roast hot dogs on.**_


End file.
